Posted on 09/01/2008 10:28:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Bobby Jindal was supposed to be one of the stars of the Republican national convention in Minnesota this week. Instead, the 37-year-old governor of Louisiana was forced to stay home to prepare for hurricane Gustav and deal with its aftermath.
The storm has confronted Mr Jindal with his biggest test of leadership since becoming the first Indian-American governor of a US state last October.
Successful handling of Gustav would burnish his reputation as one of the brightest young talents in US politics, while failure could dent his prospects.
Mr Jindal had been considered a contender to become John McCain's vice-presidential running mate until the job was given last week to Sarah Palin, another young, first-term governor.
Despite the setback, few would bet against Mr Jindal one day appearing on a Republican presidential ticket, and dealing with a natural disaster could bolster his credentials.
Republicans hope a competent performance by Mr Jindal this week will earn the party redemption three years after the Bush administration's botched handling of hurricane Katrina.
Yesterday the signs were encouraging. Louisiana authorities appeared much better prepared, with Mr Jindal in a highly visible role.
He requisitioned thousands of buses for the evacuation, deployed National Guard troops in New Orleans and held frequent news conferences urging people to flee the storm. Crucially, the state effort appears to have been closely integrated with federal and local authorities - in marked contrast to 2005.
While Kathleen Blanco, then Democratic governor, feuded with President George W. Bush, Mr Jindal has spoken repeatedly with him. Ms Blanco never recovered from the political damage caused by her role in the Katrina debacle and did not seek a second term last year.
Mr Jindal was elected on a promise to clean up the corruption and dysfunction in Louisiana politics. He was raised a Hindu by immigrant parents from the Punjab, in northern India, but converted to Christianity in his teens.
His reform agenda and multicultural background have led some to describe him as "the Republican Barack Obama". On social and economic policy, however, he could hardly be more different.
He recently thrilled fiscal conservatives by vetoing $9bn (€6.1bn, £5bn) of proposed state spending and his staunch opposition to abortion makes him popular among evangelical Christians.
Mr Jindal was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford before becoming a business consultant with McKinsey & Co. At 24, he was recruited to run Louisiana's department of health and changed a $400m budget deficit into a $220m surplus.
He joined the Bush administration in 2001 as chief policy adviser to the secretary of health before launching his first run for governor two years later. Mr Jindal narrowly lost to Ms Blanco but went on to win election to the House of Representatives, where he served until becoming governor at his second attempt.
His first few months were marred by indecision over whether to veto a controversial pay rise for state legislators. He eventually blocked the proposal but only after opponents launched a campaign to force a recall election.
Critics say Mr Jindal is more policy wonk than politician and question whether he has the common touch needed one day to run for president.
With Louisianans looking to him for leadership and empathy as the recovery effort begins, Mr Jindal has an opportunity to prove them wrong.
I was very impressed with Jindal!
While I was watching him, it dawned on me that this is the differance between a Governor and a Senator!
Does anyone go looking for a Senator at a time like this?
Wasn’t Mr. Ward watching the news lately? Jindal got more Air-Time on more networks than he ever would have at the convention. Besides, he did a great job as did all the government officals involved. The system worked. Now, if we can just get people to KEEP doing the right thing in the face of predictable natural disasters. Instead the collective conciousness seems best suited to forgetting the lessons of the past....
I am glad to hear that, because I barely got time to see him on TV.
Yeah, if they're looking for someone to fill sandbags... or if they need some extra hot air.
Night and day fellas... I get the grand tour of the utility damage on the northshore tomorrow. So off to bed for an early start.
“Successful handling of Gustav would burnish his reputation as one of the brightest young talents in US politics, while failure could dent his prospects. “
I find this entire examination of Jindal kind of silly.
Katrina was a once-in-several lifetimes event. 3 years later, ANY governor of Louisiana is going to react with such over-caution that zero fault will be found. Heck, even the chocolate city clown had his lines right this time. I would imagine future plans for evacution were drawn up almost 3 years ago, and were waiting on his desk this hurricane season.
Seriously, even Blanco would have followed the plan this time. Acting like Jindal did anything but manage to avoid political suicide is a distortion.
I value the people that pick up my garbage by leaps and bounds more than I do Senator and that goes for both parties but especially a Dem senator. Garbage collectors perform a valuable service. Can anyone tell me one valuable thing a John Kerry or a John Edwards or a Barack Obama has ever contributed to this nation? I didn't think so.
Does it ever dawn on anybody that Blanco was a complete idiot handling Katrina? Even after President Bush demanded that NO be evacuated, she didn’t act on it for over 24 hours! Talk about ‘handling’ of the issue. If there’d been some working together by the democratic state leadership in LA, there might’ve been a much better outcome. By=ut who does the public blame? Well, of course, the media only lays blame to Republicans, never dems, so there you have it.
Blanco would have still opposed the “police state.” Democrats still raise taxes again and again even though they hurt. It’s not about knowing what the right thing is but having the will to actually do it.
A decision which literally cost lives.
Wow, what an appalling insult. What has Obama ever done that is reformist ? He's just another far left rodent hack from a corrupt Chicago political machine.
Governors have to organize, analyze, decide and act immediately, and are responsible for the outcome. They can't wait months, and if it goes awry, they are going to get the blame.
While I find the thrust of your post true, Jindal is to be credited for keeping ego and politics out of the running of the state operations. It was ego and political grandstanding that hampered efforts the last time that and the extent of Katrina damage took place over an area the size of the British Isles. We dodged a bullet with Gustav and I’m hoping that Hannah will prove to be a much needed rain maker for the south-east!
My hat’s off to the young man. He had it under control.
He’s done a wonderful job, and demonstrates what a bunch of idiot losers the prior State functionaries were - Blanco, Schoolbus Nagin, and their looney senator (what’s her name) - who just stood around wringing their hands and wailing for FEMA while NO went underwater.
What a horrible insult. If anyone says that to me, I'll punch him in the face.
I have high hopes for him within the party. Really, if we play this right, we could control the Oval Office for the next 16-20 years. McCain/Palin, Palin/Jindal and Jindal/Fillintheblank...
Bobby Jindal gets an A+!! He LED.
My dream when McCain retires -
Jindal for Pres/ Palin his VP for another go-round.
He wants the presidency but committed to his state for another battle with the weather and water - and guess what - he got is chance this weekend - and he has proven his worth.
He can now govern basking in his “job well done” and look to the future as our president - with Palin.
Probably won’t happen but I still dream about it.
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